Digital Governance and Digital Politics in South Asia
The volume is a collection of essays interrogating the connections of digital governance and digital politics in South Asia. It challenges the dominant idea of digital governance as a purely technological, technocratic and 'apolitical' phenomenon. Based on a largely transdisciplinary approach, the contributions in the volume are both theoretically informed and empirically grounded as they cover select South Asian states. Against this backdrop, the volume highlights the growing intervention and outcome of new 'invasive' technologies in shaping the social and political processes. The contributors interrogate the critical intersections of governance and politics, with intense focus on strategies, policies, infrastructure, services, skills and capacity building, performance and measurement, and political communication. In offering a bottom-up view of the digital reality of South Asia along with its potentials, challenges and dilemmas, the volume seeks to provoke further deliberations and debates on this important theme.
Evicted Poverty
Eviction and poverty are deeply intertwined, creating a vicious cycle that is difficult to escape. This chapter explores how eviction and poverty reinforce each other, the economic burden of sudden displacement, and the psychological and social effects on families caught in this trap.Poverty is not just a statistic-it's a lived reality, a systemic failure, and, as Matthew Desmond's Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City reveals, a lucrative industry. The sociology of poverty exposes how poverty in America is engineered-through poverty policies, inequality, and the poverty industry that profits from deprivation. From Poverty by America to Poverty y America, the message is clear: poverty made in America is no accident.The struggle of living in poverty is a relentless cycle, trapping millions in the life of poverty, where urban poverty and homelessness in the city reveal the brutal intersection of homelessness and poverty. As Desmond argues, homelessness is a housing problem, not a moral failing-yet the homeless problem in the USA persists because cities for people not for profit remain a distant ideal. The poverty of America is a story of points for profit, where poverty point becomes a commodity in a system rigged against the poor.From emotional poverty to the homelessness essentials denied to those in need, the poverty problem is both structural and deeply personal. Poverty in the United States thrives on cycles of poverty, reinforced by policies that prioritize poverty ny america over justice. Yet, poverty knowledge offers a way forward-by dismantling the poverty policies that sustain homelessness in America and challenging the inequality at the heart of poverty usa.This is not just about poverty by american design-it's about who profits, who suffers, and who has the power to change it. The question remains: Will America confront its poverty industry, or let the cycles of poverty spin endlessly?
Data, Governance and Narrative
This book examines how participants in governance and public affairs use data and information in defining public problems and their solutions. It is based on 18 in depth interviews with various kinds of participants in the public realm in Canada and the UK, from legislators, interest group representatives, journalists and civil servants. Responses are examined against the backdrop of two classical perspectives on decision making. It explores the types of data respondents emphasized in their work and what model of decision-making best reflected the realities of defining problems and selecting solutions in governance. The book demonstrates how there is a significant interplay between the long- and short-term aspects of governance. Narratives and data are inextricably intertwined in governance. The book explores the role of narratives in linking portrayals of the public good to problem definition and solution creation. It presents practical insights on how to approach generating and using data for the guidance of governing decisions, the implications of various kinds of research designs and for the normative practice of governance.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Collection (Set of 5 Books) - "Annihilation of Caste", "Waiting For a Visa", "Caste In India
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Collection (Set of 5 Books) - "Annihilation of Caste", "Waiting For a Visa", "Caste In India
Is Free Speech Under Threat?
Two leading thinkers present alternative answers to one of the most difficult and divisive questions of our times: Is free speech under threat? Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, the leading free expression organization, argues that alongside the necessary and long-overdue elevation of minority voices in recent years, there has also arisen an uncompromising intolerance - most notably on university campuses and online - that wrongly equates a wide range of offensive speech with violence and seeks to shut it down. This has led to an escalating free speech arms race, from which everyone loses. Charlotte Lydia Riley, historian of empire and editor of The Free Speech Wars, argues that accusations of cancel culture and defenses of free speech are too often disingenuous attempts to fuel a culture war and so inhibit an important realignment in which hateful speech is at last being called out for what it is and the right to free expression is being extended to more people than ever before. Published in conjunction with Intelligence Squared, the world's leading curator of debate, this book is part of the THINK AGAIN series: short books that present two expert, contrasting but equally persuasive views in a single volume that can be read from either end.
Demolition Agenda
A comprehensive account of the first Trump administration's efforts to destroy our government institutions, and what we can do before it's too late "Demolition Agenda presents chilling details of what happened to health science, environmental science, and consumer protection agencies when President Donald J. Trump put his 'best people' in charge." --Forbes Magazine In the wake of a return to Trump-era governance, what Forbes Magazine calls the "wealth of solid information" to be found in Thomas O. McGarity's Demolition Agenda is more urgent than ever. Now available in a revised and updated edition, this groundbreaking work offers a comprehensive look at how the first Trump administration systematically dismantled the country's regulatory agencies, exposing Americans to greater risks while empowering corporate interests.From Scott Pruitt's corruption scandal at the EPA to Elaine Chao's weakening of transportation safety measures, and Ryan Zinke's stint as secretary of the interior before he faced eighteen federal inquiries and was fired (and let's not forget Rick Perry, Betsy DeVos, Sonny Perdue, Andrew Puzder . . . the list goes on), McGarity "writes authoritatively and with revealing detail" (Ralph Nader) about the abuses of power that defined the first Trump administration. A new preface and a new final chapter tell us what to expect in round two . . . and how to protect ourselves from the demolition agenda.
Get in
The explosive, definitive, behind-the-scenes account of Labour and its general election in 2024, from the authors of Left Out Drawing on their unrivalled access throughout the Labour party, the Times and Sunday Times investigative duo behind Left Out nowpresent the explosive inside story of Labour's transformation and general election under Starmer. This is the definitive telling of a momentous time for the party: either their election as the first Labour government since the Blair/Brown era, or a catastrophic mishandling of a huge lead in the opinion polls. Either way, the story centers on Starmer's relentless and single-minded pursuit of power, and on the inevitable turmoil and carnage as he expunges opponents and attempts to unite his party in the face of searingly divisive events. Richly peopled with all of the major figures of Labour present and past, as well as with those pulling strings behind the scenes, this will ultimately be a must-read, warts-and-all picture of the new British government - or it will be the dramatic story of one of the most spectacular car-crashes in Labour's history and in contemporary British politics.
35 Years of Public Sector Reform in Central Europe
This book examines public administration reforms in Central and Eastern Europe during the last three decades. After 1989, so-called socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe started their transformation from centralistic to democratic societies. Their public administration systems changed dramatically, to adopt new norms and principles. Focusing on current EU-member states in the region, the book identifies similarities and differences in their public administrative reforms. Paying particular attention to three policy areas - education, health care, and local services - it assesses the historical roots of public administrative reforms, and how the legacy of being former members of the Warsaw Pact are still visible. The book argues that there are important differences between administrations in Central and Eastern European countries compared to older EU-member states, and that even within these countries, significant differences can be seen between developments and administrative reforms at the national and local level. It concludes by assessing the implications of these arguments for candidate EU members, and the complexities and pitfalls they might encounter in this process.
Futures for the Public Sector
Thought-provoking analysis of how illiberalism, major crises and digital transformation are changing our politico-administrative systemsWhat does the future hold for the public sector? A convergence of illiberalism, major crises, system quakes and digital transformations are reshaping current politico-administrative systems. How will this challenge the way states and public administrations can and should be managed, and what will be the impact on citizen-administrative relations and our models of democracy? In this book, leading public administration scholars reflect on major trends in the public sector and their implications. They offer visions of how the academic field of public administration can respond to or anticipate possible futures. Ideal for policymakers, academics, and anyone interested in the future of governance, this compelling work reflects on how the forces transforming our world will impact the public sector.
Ineffective Policies
Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Bad policies have repercussions that can be felt for decades. But what makes a bad policy? And how can it be reversed or improved? Bringing together scholars from Europe and North America, this book goes beyond traditional policy theory to study bad and ineffective policies across three fields: - the environment; - the financial services sector; and - emerging technologies. Using cutting-edge research and analysis, the editors and authors state the case for studying ineffective policies, demonstrate their harmful effects across policy fields and provide policy makers with the tools to reflect, identify, and act upon them.
The Irish Construction Cycle 1971-2021
Ireland has the most cyclical construction sector in Europe, equaled only by Spain. Except for an interlude of normality in the early 1990s, it has been dominated for half a century by booms, busts, slow and painful recoveries, housing shortages and surpluses, and soaring and crashing prices.Unless this exceptional cyclicality is tackled, it may frustrate reforms and disrupt housing markets more or less indefinitely. As the cycle cannot be forecast reliably, semi-automatic measures put in place in advance are needed.The book examines the scope for them, in each stage of the construction process: development land, infrastructure, and construction/housing markets.
Califailure
Steve Hilton tackles the (literally) burning question: What will it take to save California?California is a "model for the nation," Governor Gavin Newsom keeps telling us. "We're following a formula for success." In Califailure, Hilton compellingly captures exactly where this far-left experiment has gone fundamentally--catastrophically--wrong.Great cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland collapsed into squalor as crime and homelessness were allowed to explode. The state that used to pride itself as the home of innovation and opportunity became the state with the worst rate of poverty, highest unemployment, and most hostile business climate in America--as well as the highest taxes.How did this happen, and what is needed to turn things around? Hilton identifies the nine key "pathologies"--from Elitism to Cronyism to Narcissism--that define the ideology at the heart of California's decline. And he lays out a comprehensive program of policy reform ("CaliFuture") that will restore the Golden State to its rightful place as the very best of America.Californians are starting to wake up from the long and fitful nightmare. In 2024 far-left politicians were removed from leadership positions in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Proposition 36, which in the words of its proponents "makes crime illegal again," passed overwhelmingly with majorities in every county.Califailure is what happens when Democrats get everything they want. Increasingly, it's not what Californians want. This book explains why America must reject it, too.
Civil Society and Autocratisation
This book fills a significant gap in the extensive literature on autocratisation by offering theorisation of authoritarian institutional landscapes beyond partisan and formal institutions in light of novel empirical evidence. Focusing on Turkey, one of the most cited contemporary cases of autocratisation, this book documents the multifaceted transformation of civil society through the parallel mechanisms of cooptation, repression and contestation. Despite incessant attempts at taming through repression and controlling through cooptation, 'tactful contention'--a blend of vigorous advocacy, non-violent protests, occupations, campaigns, digital activism, and democratic innovations-- is non-negligible within civil society. This book offers a profound understanding of civil society's role as both a target and catalyst in autocratisation, essential for anyone interested in contemporary authoritarian trends and democratic resilience.
Mad House
An exclusive fly-on-the-wall account of the epic dysfunction of the American Congress, from the rotating cast of failed Speakers to the MAGA efforts to impeach President Joe Biden to the insanity of the 2024 presidential race--by the star congressional reporters at The New York Times "Mad House contains cyanide and candy on every page, which proves to be a killer combo. I loved it."--Mark Leibovich, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers This Town and Thank You for Your Servitude The United States Congress has always been messy and far-from-august, but as Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater show here, in scorching, shocking detail, it has reached some kind of chaotic bottom. The anarchy that reigned over Congress's lower chamber in the wake of the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building--the election of serial liar and con-man George Santos, revenge porn being shown on the floor of the house, and the theatrical high jinks of Lauren Boebert--all were a sign of decay and dysfunction of the highest order. Even the members of the 118th Congress would admit it was a circus--but up close, the spectacle was more alarming than funny. Taking the reader into closed door meetings as House Republicans, in thrall to a cult of personality, bumble ever deeper into extremism, and sniping House Democrats lose faith in their President, the authors reveal a level of disorder that we have never seen before. Mad House is a searing, rollicking, and deeply reported portrait of a body at war with itself, riven by pettiness, egomania, and score-settling, and defined by the truly unbelievable antics of people like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Jim Jordan, who, handed the reins of power, attempted to actually govern a country. They did the bare minimum but voters in the 2024 elections rewarded them nonetheless, giving MAGA Republicans control of the White House, the Senate, and the House--and delivering to President Donald Trump a malleable Congress of loyalists there to serve. If you want a peek at what the next four years might look like, there's no better place to start than the dysfunction that led us here.
Insights of Administrative Thinkers
This book elucidates the contributions of eminent theorists to the study of public administration and management. It introduces readers to the works of 32 esteemed thinkers of administrative theories. It provides life sketches of all the thinkers along with outlines of their contributions and critical discussion of their seminal work.
A Political Economy of Canadian Broadcasting
Spanning over a hundred years of Canadian content, regulation, and change, this book sets the arc of the country's broadcasting history inside its wider economic history. A Political Economy of Canadian Broadcasting takes readers from the days of the telegraph to the current digital age, examining the role of public broadcasting in the wider context of regulation, private capital, and foreign programming. This comprehensive history spans over a hundred years, highlighting the shifting technological character of the media system within Anglophone Canada and the key place of public broadcasting within it. Situated in Canada's broader economic history, David Skinner's account ably demonstrates how broadcast regulation has been derived from the historical relationships between the Canadian state and private capital, and that this choice has tended to sideline its social goals. The book concludes with suggestions for encouraging the creation of distinctively Canadian programming. Coming just after the first major reform to Canada's broadcast legislation in three decades, A Political Economy of Canadian Broadcasting is a timely contribution to the history of broadcasting and the policy discussions that frame it.
We Always Had a Union
One of New York City's most powerful unions, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO, represents almost 40,000 workers. Shaun Richman's history places the labor organization within the context of American industrial and craft unionism and reveals how it came to influence politics and economic development in the city and beyond. From the start, New York's organized hotel workers experimented with and adapted how they organized and governed members and related to other labor unions. Richman follows union fortunes from early IWW activity through the Communist-led affiliates of the American Federation of Labor in the 1920s and 1930s, the shaping of breakthrough negotiating strategies, and the postwar era. As Richman shows, workers adopted a radicalism and militancy seldom associated with an AFL organization while openly negotiating the Communist Party's power and influence within the union, until the Party's eclipse in the 1950s. An inspiring story of action and perseverance, We Always Had a Union profiles a foundational American labor union and offers lessons for today's workers and organizers.
Radical Abundance
'Degrowth or ecomodernism? This book offers a compelling alternative. More than a utopian ideal, radical abundance is the guiding principle of a socialist revolution already in action' - Kohei Saito, author of Slow Down'If you're looking for practical steps to a post-capitalist future, don't miss this book' Jason Hickel, author of Less is More 'Rigorously argued and radically hopeful' - Grace Blakeley, author of Vulture Capitalism'Indispensable ... resets the terms of left debate' - Jodi Dean, author of Capital's Grave Capitalism has created a world of bullshit abundance, where we have too much of what we don't need and too little of what we do. Through this system's pursuit of profits, we have been put on a collision course with social and ecological limits that can no longer be ignored. We need an alternative. We need radical abundance. A world of human and non-human flourishing made possible by democratically planned production. But radical abundance can't just be voted into existence through parliamentary means; it must be made by taking control of our collective reproduction in the here and now. Packed with fascinating research and real-life examples of communal planning and resistance, this book will convince you that a better future is possible, if we want it. Kai Heron is a political organiser and Lecturer at Lancaster University. He is co-editor of the De Gruyter Degrowth Handbook. Keir Milburn is a writer and activist, the author of Generation Left, and co-presenter of the ACFM podcast for Novara Media. Bertie Russell is a Senior Research Fellow at ICTA-UAB. He is co-editor of Radical Municipalism. They are all co-directors of Abundance (in-abundance.org).
The Forest Fights Back
'The Rights of Nature movement is one of the few rays of light on the dimming horizons of a planet. Jessica den Outer takes readers on a journey across the globe to chart the achievements of courageous activists, indigenous leaders, and legal innovators' - Amitav Ghosh'Jessica den Outer lends her voice to forests, rivers, and ecosystems that cannot speak for themselves. Read this book and you will be inspired to take action' - Jane GoodallAs the world grapples with the escalating climate crisis, ecosystems are collapsing, and the planet's future hangs in the balance. For centuries, our legal systems have treated nature as something to be owned and exploited, but a bold new movement is challenging this paradigm.In The Forest Fights Back, Jessica den Outer explores a groundbreaking global movement - Rights of Nature - taking on the legal system to recognize the rights of rivers, forests, and mountains to exist, flourish, and sustain their ecological balance. From the fight for the Whanganui River in New Zealand to the battle for Spain's Mar Menor lagoon, den Outer highlights the campaigns led by grassroots communities, telling stories of determination and legal ingenuity. This movement goes beyond law - it represents a cultural shift that could reshape how we live, think, co-exist, and advocate for nature.Jessica den Outer is an expert in environmental law who advocates globally for the Rights of Nature. Since 2017, she's been consulted by and has spoken for institutions such as the UN and Harvard. She founded the NGO 'Stichting Rechten van de Natuur' and has received numerous awards for her pioneering work.
No Last Place to Rest
This book examines the impact of coal mining on the lives of former-labour tenant and rural communities in post-apartheid South Africa. No Last Place to Rest: Coal Mining and Dispossession in South Africa is an exploration of the ongoing struggles faced by families in the Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa whose lives have been upended by the relentless expansion of coal mining operations. These regions, burdened with the task of fulfilling the nation's energy needs and boosting the country's economy, witness daily the harsh realities of dispossession that extend far beyond the mere loss of property. Dineo Skosana presents a compelling argument that dispossession remains a present-day reality and crisis, contradicting the notion that it is merely a relic of the past in the post-apartheid landscape. It challenges the narrow perspective that equates land loss in material and economic terms only. Skosana considers the impact of grave relocations--a common occurrence in these mining-dominated locales-- and the profound spiritual anguish and dehumanisation communities endure as their lands are excavated. In African societies, connections to the land extend beyond the material; land has a sacred and ancestral value. Grave relocations disrupt this connection families have with their ancestors. In dispossessing not only the living but also the dead from their lands, the author argues that the act wounds the collective soul of a people, eroding their cultural heritage, and collective identity and belonging. This book offers a rich ethnographic account of the experiences, struggles and resistance of the affected communities as well as a critical analysis of the legal and policy frameworks that enable their exploitation. In relation to the 'land question' in South Africa, No Last Place to Rest presents deep insights for communities, activists and government sectors acting in support of social justice and redress.
No Last Place to Rest
Examines the impact of coal mining on the lives of rural communities in post-apartheid South Africa No Last Place to Rest: Coal Mining and Dispossession in South Africa is an exploration of the ongoing struggles faced by families in the Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa whose lives have been upended by the relentless expansion of coal mining operations. These regions, burdened with the task of fulfilling the nation's energy needs and boosting the country's economy, witness daily the harsh realities of dispossession that extend far beyond the mere loss of property. Dineo Skosana presents a compelling argument that dispossession remains a present-day reality and crisis, contradicting the notion that it is merely a relic of the past in the post-apartheid landscape. It challenges the narrow perspective that equates land loss in material and economic terms only. Skosana considers the impact of grave relocations--a common occurrence in these mining-dominated locales-- and the profound spiritual anguish and dehumanisation communities endure as their lands are excavated. In African societies, connections to the land extend beyond the material; land has a sacred and ancestral value. Grave relocations disrupt this connection families have with their ancestors. In dispossessing not only the living but also the dead from their lands, the author argues that the act wounds the collective soul of a people, eroding their cultural heritage, and collective identity and belonging. This book offers a rich ethnographic account of the experiences, struggles and resistance of the affected communities as well as a critical analysis of the legal and policy frameworks that enable their exploitation. In relation to the 'land question' in South Africa, No Last Place to Rest presents deep insights for communities, activists and government sectors acting in support of social justice and redress.
Creating Human Value as Public Management Theory
Creating Human Value is a powerful public management theory that places the person at the centre of all decision making. This book is the product of almost a decade of research and teaching of this compelling alternate public management theory to government decision-makers in Australia and abroad.
Managing Sustainable Business; Special focus on Information & Communication Technology, and Energy Issues of Sustainable Development Goals
This book stands out for its unique exploration of the intricate relationship between SDGs and contemporary business strategies. It offers a wealth of information on how challenges related to energy and ICT are poised to reshape the landscape of responsible business practices. Delving into the core issues and opportunities in sustainability, the book draws on cutting-edge research and real-life case studies. Readers will gain valuable insights into how ICT can facilitate collaboration, foster innovation, and enhance resource efficiency. Additionally, the book provides practical advice on harnessing green energy sources and mitigating environmental risks. With a keen focus on the pivotal role of energy issues in achieving SDGs, this book is an essential reading for policymakers, business-leaders, and sustainability professionals. Its interdisciplinary approach offers actionable insights that span across various fields, making it an invaluable resource for navigating challenges of sustainability.
In Our Interest
The economic benefits of increased immigration are potentially massive, many experts say. The United States and other wealthy countries, however, have put up barriers against even the highest-skilled foreign workers. Such choices reflect public opinion, which typically favors stringent restrictions. Under what conditions do voters in affluent democracies back higher levels of immigration? How can advocates build support for pro-immigration policies? In this data-driven, counterintuitive book, Alexander Kustov argues that showing people how immigration benefits them and their fellow citizens can lead to greater acceptance of more open policies. Looking beyond the stereotype of xenophobic voters, he identifies people's genuine concern for their compatriots as a key driver of attitudes toward immigration. Using extensive cross-national surveys and experiments, this book demonstrates that people are willing to bear costs to benefit others--but they prioritize helping their fellow citizens. Voters tend to oppose freer immigration because they believe it threatens the well-being of their communities, but they can be persuaded to support it if they see the outcomes of immigration policies as in their interest. Through in-depth comparison of Canada and Sweden, Kustov shows why pragmatic approaches that focus on attracting skilled, needed workers are more effective than humanitarian appeals and policies. Offering a realistic path forward that meets voters where they are, In Our Interest provides a new, optimistic perspective on the political prospects of pro-immigration reforms.
Future of the Forest
Future of the Forest is the story of legal transformations of forests across India through collective action. Since the nineteenth century, Indian forest dwellers have been unable to enforce their claims to the land on which they live or the products of it that they use. But at the turn of the twenty-first century, a new national movement led to the passage of the Forest Rights Act, a landmark law that recognizes the tenure and use rights of India's millions of landless forest dwellers. Anand P. Vaidya tracks the Forest Rights Act from the movements that pushed for its passage to its drafting--and the many revisions it underwent to satisfy coalitions of local peoples, conservationists, and a wide spectrum of political parties and movements--and finally to its impact on two neighboring villages in central India's forest belt. The forests have seen a long history of political authority enacted to the benefit of the powerful; Future of the Forest follows the work of activists and forest dwellers who turned to the law to shift this balance of power.
The Latino Century
Discover how and why the two major political parties have failed to appeal to the Latino vote--the largest ethnic voting group in the country--and the impact it will have on American democracy and politics for decades to come in this "beautifully written must-read" (Rosario Marin, first immigrant woman treasurer of the United States). In 2020, Latinos became the second largest ethnic voting group in the country. They make up the largest plurality of residents in the most populous states in the union, as well as the fastest segment of the most important swing states in the US Electoral College. Fitting neither the stereotype of the aggrieved minority voter nor the traditional assimilating immigrant group, Latinos are challenging both political parties' notions of race, religious beliefs, economic success, and the American dream. Given their exploding numbers--and their growing ability to determine the fate of local, state, and national elections--you'd think the two major political parties would understand Latino voters. After all, their emergence on the national scene is not a new phenomenon. But they still don't. Republicans, not because of their best efforts but rather despite of them, are just beginning to see a movement of Latinos toward the GOP. Democrats, for the moment, still win a commanding share of the Latino vote, but that share is dwindling fast. Now, in The Latino Century, veteran political consultant Mike Madrid uses thirty years of research and campaign experience at some of the highest levels on both sides of the aisle to address what might be the most critical questions of our time: Will the rise of Latino voters continue to foment the hyper-partisan and explosive tribalism of our age or will they user in a new pluralism that advances the arc of social progress? How and why are both political parties so uniquely unprepared for the coming wave of Latino votes? And what must each party do to win those votes? By answering these questions, The Latino Century "provides extraordinary insight" (George Conway, cofounder of The Lincoln Project) into the true meaning of America at a time of rapid cultural change, the founding principles of self-government and individual responsibility, and one man's journey through a political party that has turned itself inside out.
Abundance
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025 - NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2025 - KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOKS OF 2025 - NPR BOOKS WE LOVE 2025 "A must-read for progressives who want a blueprint for reforming government so it can deliver for working people." --Barack Obama - "A terrific book...Powerful and persuasive." --Fareed Zakaria - "Spectacular...Offers a comprehensive indictment of the current problems and a clear path forward...Klein and Thompson usher in a mood shift. They inspire hope and enlarge the imagination." --David Brooks, The New York Times From bestselling authors and journalistic titans Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Abundance is a once-in-a-generation, paradigm-shifting call to renew a politics of plenty, face up to the failures of liberal governance, and abandon the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life. To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don't have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven't built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget--if they are ever finished at all. The crisis that's clicking into focus now has been building for decades--because we haven't been building enough. Abundance explains that our problems today are not the results of yesteryear's villains. Rather, one generation's solutions have become the next gener-ation's problems. Rules and regulations designed to solve the problems of the 1970s often prevent urban-density and green-energy projects that would help solve the problems of the 2020s. Laws meant to ensure that government considers the consequences of its actions have made it too difficult for government to act consequentially. In the last few decades, our capacity to see problems has sharpened while our ability to solve them has diminished. Progress requires facing up to the institutions in life that are not working as they need to. It means, for liberals, recognizing when the government is failing. It means, for conservatives, recognizing when the government is needed. In a book exploring how we can move from a liberalism that not only protects and pre-serves but also builds, Klein and Thompson trace the political, economic, and cultural barriers to progress and propose a path toward a politics of abundance. At a time when movements of scarcity are gaining power in country after country, this is an answer that meets the challenges of the moment while grappling honestly with the fury so many rightfully feel.
Rabindranath Tagore's Axiology of Politics
This book revisits Rabindranath Tagore's opinion and standpoints on constituent elements of politics from the stance of this marker--axiology, so that many well-known aspects of his thought may be seen in a different light. Among the Indian luminaries of the first half of the twentieth century, who were well-known both in the East and the West, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was arguably the most 'gifted' personality. Besides being the first non-European recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1913) and the 'ambassador' of Indian culture to the West, he also wrote voluminous essays and letters on socio-political issues--engaged himself in various protests against the raj, as a pacifist in international arena and also as a polemical writer. Tagore is often described as the 'conscience' of the Indian nation. This book includes a long Tagore-Einstein conversation and a longish dialogue with H G Wells and his creative writings--poems, fictions, plays, and 'personal' letters--along with his direct political discourses to understand his Political Thought in a more comprehensive way.
Reparations and the Human
The Holocaust and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki invoked in graphic terms the specter of total human destruction. In response, a new international order of reparations and human rights arose from the ashes of WWII. This legal regime sought to subrogate the sovereignty of the nation-state in order to defend the sovereignty of the human being. While the Holocaust's history is settled--Nazis were perpetrators and Jews were victims--there remains little historical consensus as to the victims and perpetrators of the atomic bombings. In Reparations and the Human, David L. Eng investigates a history of reparations across the Transpacific. He analyzes how concepts of reparation established during colonial settlement and the European Enlightenment shape contemporary configurations of the human and human rights, establishing who can be recognized as victims, who must be seen as perpetrators, and who deserves repair. As demands for reparations now occupy center stage in debates concerning unresolved legacies of dispossession and Transatlantic slavery, Eng considers how the Cold War Transpacific provides a limit case for the politics of repair and definitions of the human.
Reparations and the Human
The Holocaust and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki invoked in graphic terms the specter of total human destruction. In response, a new international order of reparations and human rights arose from the ashes of World War II. This legal regime sought to subrogate the sovereignty of the nation-state in order to defend the sovereignty of the human being. While the Holocaust's history is settled--Nazis were perpetrators and Jews were victims--there remains little historical consensus as to the victims and perpetrators of the atomic bombings. In Reparations and the Human, David L. Eng investigates a history of reparations across the Transpacific. He analyzes how concepts of reparation established during colonial settlement and the European Enlightenment shape contemporary configurations of the human and human rights, determining who can be recognized as victims, who must be seen as perpetrators, and who deserves repair. As demands for reparations now occupy center stage in debates concerning unresolved legacies of dispossession and Transatlantic slavery, Eng considers how the Cold War Transpacific provides a limit case for the politics of repair and definitions of the human.
Chile Under Pinochet
"When the army comes out, it is to kill."--Augusto Pinochet Following his bloody September 1973 coup d'矇tat that overthrew President Salvador Allende, Augusto Pinochet, commander-in-chief of the Chilean Armed Forces and National Police, became head of a military junta that would rule Chile for the next seventeen years. The violent repression used by the Pinochet regime to maintain power and transform the country's political profile and economic system has received less attention than the Argentine military dictatorship, even though the Pinochet regime endured twice as long. In this primary study of Chile Under Pinochet, Mark Ensalaco maintains that Pinochet was complicit in the "enforced disappearance" of thousands of Chileans and an unknown number of foreign nationals. Ensalaco spent five years in Chile investigating the impact of Pinochet's rule and interviewing members of the truth commission created to investigate the human rights violations under Pinochet. The political objective of human rights organizations, Ensalaco contends, is to bring sufficient pressure to bear on violent regimes to induce them to end policies of repression. However, these efforts are severely limited by the disparities of power between human rights organizations and regimes intent on ruthlessly eliminating dissent.
